[F]igures released Tuesday by the federal Health and Human Services Agency show 31,619 people selected health plans or were automatically renewed through Vermont’s exchange during this year’s open enrollment period.
That’s 17 percent fewer than the 38,048 who had selected plans at the end of last year’s open enrollment period. However, actual enrollment in commercial health plans through Vermont Health Connect amounted to 32,000 last year.
VHC Spokesman Sean Sheehan said he expects the “spread” between those who select a plan and those who ultimately purchase insurance to be smaller this year, because some people created accounts and selected a plan out of curiosity and didn’t necessarily need insurance.
State figures from the Feb. 15 end of open enrollment show 6,211 new enrollees selected commercial plans, and 3,471 were confirmed. There were also 25,341 renewals, of which 20,442 are confirmed. State officials have said there are roughly 5,100 renewals being processed, suggesting enrollment for 2015 won’t exceed 37,000.
Vermont is holding a special enrollment period for those hit with the federal penalty for being uninsured, which will last through May 31. Qualifying life events, such as losing a job or going off a parent’s insurance, can allow people to enroll at any time. However, people also drop insurance when they get jobs or go on a spouse’s plan, so there is likely to be some attrition as well.
The enrollment numbers are encouraging and show a “significant increase from the fall,” Sheehan said.
“It’s definitely a good outcome, particularly looking at the [Household Health Insurance] survey showing we have the second-lowest uninsured rate at 3.7 percent — cutting it almost in half from two years before. It’s ahead of where many actuaries had predicted we would be,” he said.
Vermont is driving down its uninsured rate through Medicaid as well, Sheehan added. The low-income health coverage program has added roughly 90,000 people in Vermont since the Affordable Care Act increased its income eligibility threshold. State officials say only 21,000 are truly new to government insurance programs, because the rest were on VHAP or Catamount before ACA.
However, critics have questioned whether Vermont can afford its expanded Medicaid program, which requires a state match for federal funds.
Figures in the HHS report also show the number of Vermonters receiving premium subsidies held steady from last year at 62 percent. That number was significantly higher for the 37 states using the Healthcare.gov exchange, where 87 percent of enrollees are receiving a premium subsidy.
The average premium subsidy in the Healthcare.gov states is worth $263, and the average premium paid is $101. The report did not have those figures for Vermont, and state officials were not able to provide them immediately.
The HHS report comes on the heels of revelations that Vermont Health Connect will likely cost $200 million to complete, and customers continue to be frustrated with the service. At the same time, lawmakers are looking at alternatives to completing VHC.
